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Showing results 1 to 20 of 43
What Causes Rainbows?
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In this activity, learners explore how and why rainbows form by creating rainbows in a variety of ways using simple materials. Learners create rainbows indoors and outdoors.

Changing Shadows
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In this sunny day, outdoor activity, learners observe changes in shadows over time. The activity also helps to develop a sense of the Earth's motion.

The Old White Sheet Trick: Light and Insect Behavior
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In this outdoor, nighttime activity, learners gather around a brightly lit, white surface and study the behavior of nocturnal animals attracted to the light, particularly night fliers.

Light is Made of Colors
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Learners observe different light sources, outdoors and indoors, using prism glasses (diffraction glasses) and color filters.

Exploring Ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun
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In this outdoor activity, learners explore UV rays from the Sun and ways to protect against these potentially harmful rays.

Terrestrial Hi-Lo Hunt
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In this outdoor activity, learners search for the warmest and coolest, windiest and calmest, wettest and driest, and brightest and darkest spots in an area.

Sensory Hi-Lo Hunt
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In this outdoor activity, learners use only their senses to to find the extremes of several environmental variables or physical factors: wind, temperature, light, slope and moisture.

Wintergreen
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In this outdoor, winter activity, learners find living green plants under the snow and determine the light and temperature conditions around the plants.

Seas in Motion
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In this outdoor, beach activity, learners use tennis balls, water balloons and other simple devices to investigate the movement of waves and currents off a sandy beach.
Glowing Tonic
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In this sunny day activity, learners compare how a cup of water and a cup of tonic water reflect or refract light in the sun.

Why Are Bubbles So Colorful?
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In this activity, learners explore why they can see colors in bubbles and why they change.

COSI's Bubble Recipe
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Everybody loves bubbles, and this is the best bubble recipe ever!

Two Ears are Better Than One: Sound Localization
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This activity (9th activity on the page) about hearing demonstrates to learners the importance of having two ears.

Make a Green Gumball Black
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In this optics activity, learners use a shoebox, colored cellophane and sunlight to "change" the colors of gumballs. Learners will be surprised when the green and blue gumballs appear black!
Splitting White Light
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In this optics activity, learners split white light into all its component colors using three household items: a compact disc, dishwashing liquid, and a hose (outside).

Finding the Size of the Sun and Moon
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In this activity, learners build a simple pinhole viewer. They use this apparatus to project images from a variety of light sources, including a candle, the Sun, and the Moon.

Colors in Nature
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In this activity, learners create colorful bead bracelets to wear outside while searching for matching colors in plants. Learners will be surprised by the variety of colors in nature.

Pinhole Viewer
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In this activity, learners discuss and investigate how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.

Experiencing Parallax With Your Thumb
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In this activity, learners investigate parallax, a method used to measure distances to stars and planets in the solar system.

Personal Pinhole Theater
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Have you ever heard of a camera without a lens? In this activity, learners create a pinhole camera out of simple materials. They'll see the world in a whole new way: upside down and backwards!